The feeding of hummingbirds brings many people much happiness and pleasure. These birds provide a delightful connection between humans and nature, permitting a closer look and participation in the beauty of the natural world.
Providing feeding solution for hummingbirds is very simple: a mixture of sugar and water that approximates the flower nectar on which these birds naturally feed. Unfortunately, however, the sugary liquid and the outside placement of the feeders in which the liquid is placed combine to form a potent circumstance for the cultivation of bacteria and black mold.
Tragically, black mold is highly toxic to hummingbirds. To overcome the risk to these birds, proper cleaning of the feeders is critical. There are several methods of feeder cleaning that are predominantly used, often involving harsh or heavily odiferous agents such as bleach or vinegar, and frequently—if not always—involving the time-consuming process of scrubbing or brushing the small orifices and reservoirs of the feeders in order to eliminate mold and bacteria.
Common configurations of hummingbird feeders are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,275,500 (Fort et. al.), U.S. Pat. No. 7,234,418 (Fort et. al.), U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,251 (Fort et. al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,834,616 (Fort et. al.), U.S. Pat. No. 7,093,562 (Smothers), U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,249 (Shaw), U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,258 (Brown), U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,168 (Meidell), U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,673 (Overstreet), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,662 (Peterson). The typical hummingbird feeder primarily comprises a transparent, cylindrical reservoir usually made of glass or polycarbonate plastic to hold a sugar-solution liquid favored by hummingbirds as a source of fluid energy.
The feeder is often suspended by a hook and hanger attachment to various substrates, such as branches of trees, or rain gutters or fascia boards on houses, in order to permit the birds free access and flight path to and from the apparatus. The hook is frequently attached to a plastic cap or covering that is affixed, usually through a screw-on system, to the reservoir. Feeders are often red in color and contain red and yellow components, as these shades are known to attract hummingbirds.
The base of the feeder often comprises a variant on a closed, cylindrical bowl configuration as a means to provide a platform with small apertures through which the liquid can be extracted by the elongated beaks of the hummingbirds. While the design forms of these “feeding holes” can take different shapes, including replicating the petals or stamens of flowers, the principle is constant: it is a small opening or series of small openings through which the sugary liquid can be extracted by the hummingbird.
Because of the combination of small apertures and sugary liquid, a concomitant problem with hummingbird feeders is the potential for rapid mold and bacterial growth, especially in places that are difficult to adequately clean. Regular cleaning is imperative to the health of hummingbirds, and typical methods to achieve this involve, variously, using bleach, vinegar, hot water and soap, or rice. These solutions, with varying degrees of environmental safety, still require the need to vigorously brush or scrub the feeder parts, especially the reservoir and feeding holes in which mold can stubbornly lurk.
Approaches to cleaning the feeders differ widely; however, there is agreement that the presence of mold and bacteria can be deadly to hummingbirds. The following are quotes from various sources regarding hummingbird feeder cleaning:
“At least once a month, clean the feeder thoroughly with a solution of ¼ cup bleach to one gallon of water. Soak the feeder in this solution for one hour, then clean with a bottle brush. Rinse well with running water” (Lanny Chambers, “Hummingbird Feeders,” Internet Article, June 2007).
“It's important to keep the dreaded black mold off your Hummingbird Feeders. Dirty feeders can cause illness and death in hummingbirds . . . . Fill the bottle up with 2 parts water to 1-part vinegar and let it soak for several hours . . . [and] use a stiff brush to clean the base and also a bottle brush for the bottle” (SurfBirds, “How to Clean Hummingbird Feeders,” Internet Article, accessed Apr. 12, 2107).
“Use a Bottle/Thermos Brush or a Hummingbird Feeder Brush and scrub inside of the hummingbird feeder tank really well, working to get out any goop and gunk that might have grown inside. This needs to be done even if you don't see anything inside the tank as mold may just be starting to grow and may not yet be visible. Make sure to scrub the base and flowers with soap and water as well because goop can sometimes clog these components” (World of Hummingbirds, “Cleaning a Hummingbird Feeder,” Internet Article, accessed Apr. 12, 2017).
“A 15-minute soak in a dilute solution of chlorine bleach (1-part bleach in 10 or more parts water) is very effective at killing black mold on non-porous surfaces, but an hour-long soak in white vinegar is a less toxic alternative . . . . In either case, follow up on the soak with a thorough brushing to remove dead mold colonies and other organic growths, then rinse well and let the feeder dry before refilling to allow the odor to dissipate” (Sheri L. Williamson, “Keeping Hummingbird Feeders Clean,” Internet Article, Sep. 1, 2014).
“An even safer mold killer that's much kinder to your nose than bleach or vinegar is 3% hydrogen peroxide, the medicinal kind you can buy in any drug or grocery store . . . . Follow the treatment with a good scrub, including the ports, and rinse well to remove any debris” (Sheri L. Williamson, “Keeping Hummingbird Feeders Clean,” Internet Article, Sep. 1, 2014.).
“Hummingbird feeders must be kept clean and free from mold and fungus, or the tiny hum-buzzers you so enjoy could develop a serious and deadly fungus infection. This infection causes the tongue to swell, making it impossible for the bird to feed. Starvation is a slow and painful death. The proper care of hummingbird feeders requires a significant commitment of time and energy” (Kimberly Mason, “Loving Hummingbirds to Death,” Internet Article, Jun. 8, 2012).
United States Patent Publication No. 2011/0239949 (Abbott) accedes the “risk of internal injury to hummingbirds resulting from ingestion of spoiled liquid sugar solution or other food . . . resulting in [the possibility of] intestinal or other internal damage,” the resulting conjecture that this is much more likely to occur in hummingbird feeders with large holding capacities as opposed to smaller capacity is incorrect in relation to an inalienable fact: anytime a sugary substance comes into contact with mold spores or bacterium—often through the bird's beak itself—in combination with heat and moisture, the risk of mold growth is significant. And, where there is mold and bacteria, there is the need for sufficient cleaning.
It is acknowledged that the size of the reservoir and component parts make access to the interior of the feeders easier—such as having a wider opening to the reservoir that will more easily accommodate a cleaning brush—a point made in U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,348 (Colwell et al.), which describes a typical hummingbird feeder as containing a cleaning opening “of sufficient size for enabling the cleaning of the reservoir.” However, the small apertures required in feeders, into which the hummingbirds penetrate their beaks, simulating the action of extracting nectar from a flower's stamens, is conducive to cultivating mold and the size of the reservoir and parts neither eliminate nor mitigate that reality. Moreover, the problem of cleaning a hummingbird feeder is not just a matter of the size of openings for access; rather, it is the need for scrubbing, brushing, or otherwise investing considerable time and energy in sufficiently cleaning these devices.
While U.S. Pat. No. 9,192,148 (Hill) exhorts the need for a more sterile form of nectar liquid for the feeders as a means to protect hummingbirds from the growth of mold and bacteria, Hill acknowledges the need to still replace the nectar and, moreover, that this task is “typically cumbersome and time-consuming for the user, often requiring additional cleaning of the hummingbird feeder.”
Hill further points out that it is “generally known that hummingbirds . . . are creatures of habit, returning to a feeder that previously had a fresh nectar supply . . . . Stale nectar may make a hummingbird sick. Insects may be attracted to fresh or spoiling nectar, which may exacerbate or accelerate spoilage and bring further risks to the health of hummingbirds.” Such observations underscore the importance of finding a safe, easy, time-efficient, and effective means of cleaning hummingbird feeders.
Problems in cleaning the feeders is evident in United States Patent Publication No. 2010/0192866 (McMullen), which acknowledges that a “critical problem exists when the nectar spoils[,] resulting in the health of hummingbirds being endangered.” Moreover, “[t]he feeding solution spoils and becomes contaminated within a relatively short period of time. Spoilage results in the accumulation of mold slime and . . . [p]hysical changes . . . such as changes in acid pH content, specific gravity, presence of alcohol, [and] presence of bacteria.” These elements also yield potential health risks for humans.
Frequent cleaning of the hummingbird feeders is crucial to minimize or, preferably, eliminate the growth of mold and bacteria. The nature of the time involved in cleaning the feeders is especially recognized in U.S. Pat. No. 6,932,023 (Nauert) as well as McMullen. Adequate cleaning, as McMullen recognizes, is a multi-step process and is difficult for several reasons, including the need for a “variety of brushes to clean the interior parts” as the “feeding apertures are very small to accommodate the beak of a hummingbird, having an opening of about one-eighth of an inch.” McMullen further describes the process of cleaning hummingbird feeders as a “time consuming, messy, and unsanitary process that detracts from the feeding of hummingbirds.”
Although McMullen proposes a disposable hummingbird feeder as a means to counter the problem with mold and bacteria growth, the use of disposable products as opposed to maintenance of more permanent hummingbird feeders is questionable in terms of environmental responsibility and sustainability. Even in light of McMullen's claim of using “an economical feeder design using biodegradable or recyclable materials,” the fact of the feeder being discarded after use is neither particularly economical, nor environmentally sustainable. Many hummingbird enthusiasts, by way of their interest in the natural world and its creatures, are also concerned about the natural environment and are reluctant to participate in such a “throwaway” mentality. This does not, therefore, resolve the problem of the need for a safe, time-efficient, easy, effective, and environmentally-sensitive means of cleaning the feeders.
McMullen accedes that prior art relating to hummingbird feeders is “relatively crowded,” and yet it can indeed be appreciated “that there is a continuing interest in providing improvements to such hummingbird feeders.” There has not, however, been a concomitant approach to improving the means of cleaning the feeders.
As stated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,390 (Bescherer et al.), “the hummingbird, because of its high rate of metabolism, requires large amounts of this food [nectar or nectar substitute].” This necessitates the provision of a constant, clean supply. And yet, as noted in the patent, hummingbird feeders have “suffered from the defect that they have been difficult (if not impossible) to clean” and that “if the nectar is not removed and the container completely cleaned, the danger arises that the nectar can ferment and generate chemicals or bacteria that are harmful to the hummingbird, particularly to the liver of the bird.” These observations make not only the need for an effective, safe, and time-saving method of cleaning feeders apparent, but also highlight the lack of such an invention to date.
In summary, there is a need in the industry for a simple, safe, effective, easy-to-use, environmentally-responsible, and time-saving method for cleaning hummingbird feeders.